I have decided to only write in detail about Jeff's life as a boy.  As I thought about this, it occurred to me that this is the time span that few of you know about Jeff.  So, I will stop after high school and ask you to pick up where I left off and allow you to tell your story with Jeff as an adult.

My brother Jeff was born 363 days before me on August 15, 1960.  We were raised in Atlanta, Georgia in a nice middle class neighborhood, where we both attended Henderson High School.   Well, we were enrolled there, and sometimes we attended.   After our parents divorced, my father left and our mother decided to go find herself and was not around for several days to a week at a time.  And the neighborhood kids loved our house - no parents!   So, as young boys, we went looking for trouble.  And fate allowed trouble to be found.  We used to sleep in the woods, stay up all night and cook baloney in a pan over a fire.  We would load up our BB guns and have hunting parties where a team of 3 would go and hide and another team would go and hunt down the other 3 and open fire on each other.  Until one day, some kid hit Jeff with laser sharp precision in the right pupil, and as many of you know, Jeff lost his right eye.  It was tough for him.  He lost his sense of depth perception.  I used to try and help him by throwing a tennis ball to him so that he could learn it back.   I always felt sorry for Jeff for this.

 Jeff and I never really had fights like some brothers do.  I think we leaned on each other since we didn't have anyone else to lean on.  Jeff always called me Gipper.  I was short for my age throughout most of high school.  I think Jeff liked having a little brother to look after.  As did I. We had each others back.

So, at the ripe ages of 13 & 14, Jeff and I had the option of whether or not we wanted to go to school.  Most of the time we chose not.   At 15, I started working in a restaurant and playing league soccer instead of going to school while Jeff spent as much time on the water as he could.  Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee  river.  He loved boats.  He ultimately become an accomplished sailor.  As an adult, Jeff pursued his captain's license and achieved the level of Bareboat Charter 104.

Back to school....this may surprise you, but one year Jeff made straight F's.  If you knew Jeff, you know he was wicked smart.  But, apparently not attending class at all is frowned upon in academia.  I remember clearly that a few of us all bet each other how many F's Jeff would get.  We were hanging out at the neighborhood pool, wagering on Jeff's fate, when word came that report cards were in the mail.  I raced to the mailbox on my bike and returned with the unopened envelope for the drum roll.  I think the over under was 3, but no one guessed 6 straight F's.  Good thing we didn't have parents to answer to.  We laughed and laughed and I think Jeff was sort of proud of this feat. 

At this point Jeff also got interested in becoming a pilot.  At 16, I used to go to a nearby airport with Jeff and watch him clean and polish planes for free lessons.  I thought it was cool, but I didn't get the flying bug until later in life.  Years later, Jeff added Pilot to his list of accomplishments. 

Our father remarried and Jeff moved to Memphis with him during his junior year.  Knowing that I was destined to be a high school dropout, Jeff called me one day and talked me into moving there also.  I remember how Jeff convinced me that we both needed to at least get a high school diploma.  At this point, I was not attending very much school so I jumped at the opportunity and it was one of the best things that Jeff ever did for me.  We got lucky and attended one of the best high schools in the nation named Germantown.  The teachers turned us both around and Jeff went on to attend University of Tennessee, where he majored in Advertising, joined Sigma Chi Fraternity, and met his future wife, Lisa.

As an adult, Jeff and I would often reflect on our unconventional childhood.  One time he said, "I can't believe we ever found women to marry us.  As teenagers, we were animals.  Lisa (Jeff's only wife) had to teach me how to make a bed."  I still haven't been taught that trick.

Jeff was always very creative.  He was always talking about starting different businesses.  He loved newspapers, advertising and anything to do with buying and selling.  As an adult, Jeff was an entrepreneur and able to remain self-employed and travel the world, choosing work or leisure destinations in a manner that few will ever know.  His two passports have over 222 stamps, though he was humble in telling of his worldliness.  Most who met him were unaware of both his business accomplishments and his world travels.  I traveled with Jeff to several countries and was amazed at his ease of moving from place to place.  Once, he called me and offered a ticket to meet him in Germany.  I arrived at the Munich airport and there was Jeff with a big grin.  We zig zagged down through Austria, Switzerland (Jeff wanted fondue) and then to Rome (I wanted Pizza).  After a day in Rome, Jeff woke me up one morning and said he was leaving to go to the Middle East.  Nursing a substantial hangover, I went back to sleep and woke up in Rome alone.     Another time, I told Jeff that I wanted to run an international marathon and he said "You name the city and I will buy your ticket".  So, I chose Buenos Aires Argentina and Jeff met me there.  After the race, Jeff suggested we jump a plane to the Brazilian rainforest.  We went to Iguazu Falls in Brazil.  Jeff then suggested that we hire a taxi and go to Paraguay.  I think he just wanted the passport stamp, but I willing agreed, especially since  I did not know where Paraguay was.  It sounded like it might have beaches and bikinis. I was wrong.   We bought a cab, only to be stuck at the border in a torrential downpour and a horrible traffic jam.  At one point, Jeff and I got out of the taxi to see what the delay was and automatic weapon fire lit up the sky.  Jeff and I jumped into the back seat of the taxi (lying down) and politely instructed the cab driver to take us back to Brazil.

My big brother Jeff was one of the best human beings that I have ever known.  He was honest, generous, sensitive and smart as hell.  He never talked about himself, but always asked about everyone else.  I am saddened beyond words.  I will miss him forever.   But,  I am certain that he would tell us all to get on with our lives.  So, lets do that.

The rest I will leave you to tell.  If you knew Jeff, tell your story with him.  He would love to hear it.

Love,

Dave Reid